BUFFALO, N.Y. – After a slow start in the first quarter, the D'Youville women's basketball team came back to cruise past Villa Maria, 65-43, on Wednesday night.

On a night when freshmen scored all 65 points, three were in double figures for D'Youville (4-1). Anna Jankovic and Haleigh Schafer combined to score 42 and added 23 rebounds. Jankovic's 26 points make it the third straight game the reigning ECC Rookie of the Week has scored at least 20 points and added 14 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Schafer's 16 points are a new career-high.

Villa Maria (5-4) scored the first 13 points before Stella Mollica got D'Youville on the board. D'Youville did close the quarter on an 8-4 run to get back into the game.

The second quarter proved to be decisive. The Saints built off the final minutes of the first and outscored the Vikings 18-6 in the quarter to take a 26-23 lead into halftime. Schafer gave the Saints their first lead on a jumper to make it 20-19 with 3:10 left.

At the start of the third, D'Youville scored 15 of the first 19 points to build a 41-27 advantage. A pair of Schafer free throws capped the stretch. Villa Maria made a run to get back to within eight before D'Youville stretched the lead back to 14 by the close of the quarter.

D'Youville's defense limited Villa Maria to 20 second-half points—six in the fourth quarter—and forced 31 turnovers on the night. The 30 turnovers led to 24 points for the Saints.

Notables

Jankovic played all 40 minutes and shot 52-percent from the field … It was the second straight game the first-year Saint was over 50-percent from the floor … Schafer's career-high 16 came in her first collegiate start on Wednesday … Jaelyn Vleer-Elliott had 15 rebounds off the bench for D'Youville … Mollica finished with 10 points … Danyea Barclay led Villa Maria with 16 points …

Up Next

The Saints return to the College Center on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they welcome Bryant & Stratton Albany.

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